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Waste Management outlines services and proposes a small rate increase for Vernonia customers
Summary
Waste Management told the Vernonia City Council it serves about 777 residential and roughly 50 commercial customers and proposed raising the most common 35-gallon monthly rate from $31.90 to $33.47 to cover labor, fuel and disposal cost increases.
Waste Management representatives briefed the Vernonia City Council on April 6 about local collection services, recycling changes and a proposed rate adjustment.
"We're looking at that proposed increase going from $31.90 to $33.47, which is a rate increase of a dollar 57," said Dave Huber, Waste Management's public sector manager. Huber said the company has provided service to the area for decades and cited rising labor, fuel and disposal costs as drivers of the requested adjustment.
Nick Reese, local operations manager, told council that "currently within [the] city, we service 777 residential customers" and about 50 commercial customers, describing the frequency of service (weekly garbage; recycling and glass every other week). Huber compared Vernonia's proposed rate to nearby jurisdictions — for example, Columbia County charges about $38.21 and Saint Helens about $39.33 — to provide context for the request.
Council and Waste Management discussed implementation timing. Huber said May 1 would be preferable as an effective date but acknowledged billing cycles might make June 1 more practical; council directed staff to place a resolution on the April 20 meeting agenda to consider formal adoption and customer notification.
The presentation also noted that collected recyclables now go to a new processing facility in Portland established after Oregon’s Recycling Modernization Act implementation, which Waste Management said allows the company to serve domestic end markets for most material.
